Part I: Can You Say 'No' So Many Times That God Finally Agrees?
Is there a line in the sand that, once crossed, makes salvation impossible?
Most Christians refuse to ask this question. Seeker-friendly churches certainly won't touch it.
It’s uncomfortable. It challenges our understanding of God’s mercy. It sounds almost heretical in an age that reduces the gospel to “God loves you unconditionally.”
But Scripture doesn’t avoid it.
We know that no one can get saved after death. But Scripture reveals something more terrifying: you can cross a line of no return while still living.
Repentance can become impossible, not because God’s grace is insufficient, but because God Himself confirms people in their chosen rebellion.
This isn’t theoretical theology. It’s a biblical warning nonbelievers ignore at their own peril.
The Biblical Evidence
Hebrews 6: When Full Exposure Leads to Final Rejection
Hebrews 6:4-6 — “For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding Him up to contempt.”
John MacArthur explains that this passage describes Jewish apostates who had full exposure to Christian truth but deliberately rejected Christ and returned to Judaism. MacArthur states, “those who sinned against Christ in such a way had no hope of restoration or forgiveness.”
These people experienced every spiritual privilege: illumination, exposure to God’s Word, witnessing the Spirit’s power, but never embraced Christ.
R.C. Sproul taught that the author is describing people who have come to the very threshold of salvation, who have been given every advantage, every privilege, every opportunity—and yet they turn their backs on Christ. The impossibility here is not that God lacks power to save them, but that they have reached a state of such hardness that repentance is no longer possible.
2 Thessalonians 2: When God Actively Sends Delusion
2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 is even more explicit and terrifying — “The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”
The ESV translates verse 11 as “strong delusion,” but the Greek is more forceful: energeian planēs—literally “a working of error.” God doesn’t simply allow delusion; He actively energizes it. This is supernaturally empowered deception; the reverse mirror of regeneration.
Stage One: Refusing to Love Truth
The phrase “refused to love the truth” indicates willful, deliberate rejection.
Paul Washer emphasizes that this passage doesn’t say they didn’t understand the truth or weren’t exposed to the truth; they refused to love it. This is a moral problem, not an intellectual one. They understood the gospel but hated it because it confronted their sin.
Stage Two: God’s Judicial Response
Again, God doesn’t simply permit their delusion; He actively sends it.
A.W. Pink identified this as one of the most solemn statements in all of Scripture. God Himself becomes the agent of their deception. This is divine judgment in its most fearful form; not annihilation, but abandonment to the consequences of their own choice.
This echoes the terrifying progression in Romans 1:24-28, where Paul describes God’s judicial response to persistent rebellion.
Romans 1:24 — “Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity...”
Romans 1:26 — “For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions...”
Romans 1:28 — “And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.”
Three times Paul uses the phrase “God gave them up”—each time marking a deeper level of divine abandonment.
A.W. Pink described this as progressive judgment. First, God gives them up to uncleanness in their bodies. Then to vile affections that corrupt the soul. Finally, to a reprobate mind—a mind that can no longer distinguish right from wrong, truth from lies. Each stage represents God removing another layer of restraining grace until they are confirmed in their rebellion.
The pattern is identical to 2 Thessalonians: Man persistently rejects the clear truth, and God eventually confirms them in their chosen path by withdrawing the grace that made repentance possible.
Stage Three: Complete Inability to Believe
They become incapable of believing the truth; completely deceived and confirmed in unbelief.
Martyn Lloyd-Jones explained that the delusion is so complete that they cannot distinguish truth from error. What was once clear becomes opaque. What was once light becomes darkness. And they are content in this state—even joyful in it—because they have what they wanted,: life without God’s truth.
Revelation 16:9, 11: Living Examples Of This Delusional Hardening
Here are some examples of men's stiff-necked responses in the end times.
Revelation 16:9, “They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give Him glory.”
Revelation 16:11,,“...and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores. They did not repent of their deeds.”
Such stunning remorselessness!
It is clear that men are responsible for their choice to deny Christ, as evidenced in the video below. Listen to what Ron says at the very end.
Next week - Part II: When ‘Not Now’ Becomes ‘Too Late’: The Point of No Return: We'll examine the biblical pattern of judicial hardening through Pharaoh and Esau, and explore the practical implications for today, including how to know if you've crossed the line and why every "not now" risks becoming "too late."
Thank you for reading,
Thad
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Sobering for sure...
AStrongerFaith interviews a Christian hospice nurse who cared for believers and nonbelievers alike as they lived out their last hours. Her anecdotes confirm that for many it may already be too late to avoid the delusion. Many say it’s never too late but I’m not convinced of that now.